Kansas and the Corn Belt: Just when Kansans started to get comfortable in believing the drought was over, the weather pattern turned fairly dry. Just five months ago, 6 percent of the state was in extreme drought. Today, that number has jumped to 25 percent. The drought combined with high wind earlier in the week to churn out dust storms that created zero-visibility conditions across central parts of the state. Weather service meteorologist Jeff Hutton explains in an Associated Press report that this is “what happens when you get drought, a lack of vegetation and you have wind.” Varying degrees of drought also touch Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Missouri

California and the West: The worst of the country’s drought remains centered in California, where 96 percent of the state is in severe to exceptional drought. Record heat and the drought kicked off California’s wildfire season. Drought is already pushing water resources to their limits, and according to Business Insider, California is facing what could be an “extremely cruel and dry summer.” The drought has send some ranchers to send their cattle to Texas. Up to 100,000 California cattle have left the Golden State for Texas pastures. The National Weather Service shows portions of California are more than 12 inches below normal precipitation for the year to date.